There’s a new local court honoring the memory of Kobe Bryant. And there’s not a basketball to be found.
Last week saw the unveiling of the Kobe & Vanessa Bryant Family Court at Hoag Hospital Newport Beach, following a philanthropic gift from Vanessa Bryant, the wife of the late Lakers legend. Located at the hospital’s Sue & Bill Gross Women’s Pavilion, the court “serves as a prominent departure space where Hoag patients, particularly those with newborns, prepare to leave the hospital and return home,” Hoag said.
Vanessa Bryant, a longtime Newport Beach resident, gave birth to her four daughters at the hospital. The family’s undisclosed gift is intended to support Hoag’s continued expansion of its patient programs and services, with a focus on endocrinology and autoimmune research.
The news of the gift came on Feb. 24; Kobe wore the No. 24 jersey for the Lakers during the last half of his career.
Newport Beach-based Chipotle has lost over a quarter of its value in the past year, as softening same-store sales and decreased spending from younger consumers amid rising menu prices have spooked investors (NYSE: CMG). With a nearly $50 billion valuation, Chipotle’s market cap is now neck-and-neck with Edwards Lifesciences as OC’s most valuable public company (NYSE: EW).
CEO Scott Boatwright has suggested leaning into a higher-earning customer base as “60% of our core users are over $100,000 a year in average household income.” Separately, CFO Adam Rymer said the chain would take a “measured approach to raising prices throughout the year.”
Perhaps offering tchotchkes alongside burritos will help?
Irvine’s Kura Sushi USA says a recent 3.5% price hike “was taken very well,” countering worries that the revolving sushi chain, with a market cap near $860 million, would lose traffic, according to CFO Jeff Uttz (Nasdaq: KRUS). The company’s benefitted from offering customers small toys for ordering 20 or more plates of food per visit. People order more than they normally would to get the prizes, according to Uttz.
OC residents and visitors remain price sensitive when it comes to air travel as they’re willing to deal with potential nightmare traffic at LAX to save money.
That’s one conclusion of a new report from the OC Grand Jury, which evaluated potential improvements to the public transportation that links OC to LA’s main airport.
While John Wayne Airport serves nearly 11.8 million passengers annually, another 9.9 million OC travelers choose LAX for a flight each year. OC was the origin or destination for 13% of LAX passengers in 2024, according to the report.
The reason: “generally lower airfares, more international destinations, and greater availability of nonstop domestic routes” at LAX, the report, released last week, said.
Those LAX-to-OC travelers are, by and large, not using public transportation, with long travel times and reliability a key hindrance. By train or bus, it takes about two hours to get from LAX to Disneyland, and longer to get to Irvine.
The Grand Jury suggests upping direct-to-LAX transportation services at Anaheim’s ARTIC, the Irvine Transportation Center and new developments in planning in Buena Park and at the former Westminster Mall.
